BIG ISSUE HERE - You guys are talking about certain guns being up to handling 7.62 NATO and 308 as the same thing. It's my understanding that 7.62 NATO uses 50ksi-ish chamber pressures and that 308 Winchester uses 62ksi-ish ones.

I would be very concerned about making a gun designed for 7.62 NATO only to take US commercial 308 Winchester ammo.

Am I wrong about this, and are the Galils and Yugos designed to take US commercial ammo and not just 7.62 NATO? For the Saiga-308 to be marketed as a sporting gun in the US I'm pretty sure it would be up to the task, hence the third bolt lug at the expense of making a new and very different kind of magazine. But are the Galils and Yugos the same way?

So is there something I'm missing here? If Yugo AKs are in fact up to 308 Winchester, then you bet I'll be doing a build!

Those advertised pressures are misleading.The pressures are measured differently and the NATO chamber is "looser".The military NATO ammo will really make higher pressure in the same chamber.About 10.000 PSI higher than 308 Winchester hunting ammo.

I've been working on building a 308 AK for a while.Besides the Yugo there is also the 308 Valmet and 308 Galil.I took a 30 caliber barrel blank and turned it for an AK.I opened up a standard 7.62x39 bolt face.I am working on modifying a standard front trunnion to take Galil mags.I will use 16 gauge 4130 for the receiber and thin the trunnions.Now that the Yugo kits are here with non chrome lined barrels it would be much easier to ream the chamber for 308 and use the original barrel.

Hey guys just jumped on this outta curiousity, went and looked at a M14 mag and they taper slightly to about 7/8" at the front. If you try FAL mags you might try the inch pattern as they have a spot welded or soldered on lip in the front of the mag similar to the AK. Might just need a little attention with a grinder, just a thought.

I thought about using a standard barrel and reaming it to .308 win you would still have a .311 bore and a .308 bullet would work but may not be the most accurate. you could hand load with .311 bullets however. The info for 308 versus 7.62X51 is very confusing with several places saying the opposite of each other. from what I have read (dont trust every thing I read) Militatry /Nato ammo is rated at PSI and 308 win factory us made stuff is rated with the CUP system and are not comparable to each other. the military chamber is aprox .013 longer in head space. however from what I can find the ammo its self is the same outside dimensions, with the military stuff having thicker walls and less internal volume. I am also lead to believe that it will chamber fine in a 308 Win chamber but that 308 in a nato chamber may not have the material to expand the extra aprox .013 with out seperation. If any one has solid info on this I am interisted. My plan is to build it with a 308 win chamber and shoot nato ammo in it if it will chamber, and shoot Light factory loads in 308.

food for thought. I got these numbers off of hodgdon powders sight http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/308win.php The are the highest CUP/ chamber pressures for these rounds listed 223- 51,700cup 243-51,600 CUP 308win-51,200CUP 7.62x39-42,500CUP 7.62x54R-49,000CUP 8x57 mauser 49,000CUP. What I found suprizing was the 223 being the highest of the group. I have read that the 8mm mauser it down loaded in factory ammo to some were around 35,000 cup due to all of the very early bolt guns prior to the 98 action coming out. I threw in the 243 because if my 308 win works out it will be my next buid since would use a mag very close to the 308 if not the same (my remington pump share the same mag) The Yugo was made in 7.62x51 and 8mm mauser. With the 223 being avaliable in a romanian and handeling the highest pressures. I am questioning the need for using a Yugo trunion or bolt. I probably will build a Rommy based 8mm pistol that can shoot 220 grain hunting loads. NOTE I did find higher pressures from other reloading sites saw one that put the &.62x39 at a max of 50,000 cup 2400 fps and 308 at over 60,000cup.

cephus were are you finding the NATO info at? do you show anything for the 8mm mauser as to what a military load may be at. I have several 8mm barrels looking for a home. I wish I could get my hands on a Yugo 7.62x51 or 8mm mag

got my Tapco parts today a G3 mag and a bunch of fal gas blocks to play with. the gas block it almost perfect for the remington barrel. the mag would take some work I will look into that more after I get the barrel fitted ect. I wish there were more gun shows or shops that handled military stuff to look at. last show had one AK in entire building.would like to see a FAL and a M14 or find some Yugo 7.62x51 mags. would like to see a G3 rifel to see how its set up. Looks like I will have to turn the barrel a fair amount at the chamber end to get it to clear the rear site block. I May use Sangs idea and mill of the bottom of the RSb and weld it to the trunion.